The present invention relates to microwave antennas, and, more particularly, to microwave antennas that are transportable over the road or by aircraft.
Cylindrical antenna arrays are means for producing agile radar or communication beams that can be steered through 360.degree. of azimuth with constant beam shape. Coincidentally, lower frequency systems are desirable as a means of enhancing small target cross sections. These lower frequencies require very large antennas to achieve adequate gain. The combination of these two requirements, being steerable and having adequate gain, results in cylinder antennas that are much larger than can be transported directly. For example, a 25 foot diameter, 25 foot tall cylinder antenna is a likely antenna configuration. This size is clearly not transportable and the type of connections required preclude the separation of the antenna into separate pieces that could be stacked.
Thus there is a clear need of a mobile microwave cylindrical antenna that is easily transportable.